Revenge 4.17 "Loss" Review

                                               
Emily (Emily VanCamp) has a flashback to the night the police arrested her father and dragged him away from her and wakes when Carl slams his bowl down.  She doesn't want the same thing for Carl since a parent shouldn't be separated from their child, as she tells David (James Tupper).  Who is looking after Carl, he brings him a yellow taxi toy to play with.  She says that whoever did this will pay and thinks Margaux (Karine Vanasse) must've done it since she's coming after her, but why would she go after Jack.  Let's not question Margaux's rationality, cos she has none.  David knows Jack (Nick Wechsler) would never drink and drive, especially not with Carl.  She has to help Jack and leaves for the bail hearing, with David telling Carl at least someone in the family listens to him.

Schaefer (Jeffrey David Anderson) brings him to the jail asking if he has to be cuffed and his blood test will prove that he wasn't drinking.  But conveniently the lab has mislaid his blood sample.  He thinks maybe Schaefer could be dirty.  Jack walks in to find Emily called his mother, Stevie (Gail O'Grady) who flew down to defend him.  She asks if he was drinking and he replies no.  She knows he's telling the truth cos she was an alcoholic herself and so would see it in his eyes.

Margaux is having an ultrasound and Victoria (Madeleine Stowe) shows up with a sketch of the wing she wants to name after Daniel.  There's a meeting of the hospital board and she's hoping they will back it up cos she knows they need the money to save lives.  She also says they can announce Margaux's pregnancy at the board meeting.  Which Margaux doesn't want to do.  They hear the baby's heartbeat and see the picture.  Nolan (Gabriel Mann) tells Louise (Elena Satine) that Jack is in trouble and Ben (Brian Hallisay) turns up as he's leaving.  He breaks the news about Lyman being found and she says he was drunk the night before and she hadn't seen him.  Nolan replies the only argument was between him and Louise cos he didn't want Lyman staying here.

Jack pleads not guilty but the DA thinks he's a flight risk.  Stevie tells Judge Knowles (Lucinda Jenney) about his ties to the community and is a decorated officer and should be released without bail.  The judge however orders Social Services to check him out.  Stevie knows the judge is seeking re-election.  Thought she was a bit of a useless judge and too ready to throw the book at Jack.  Emily sees Margaux there and tells her this is between them and she should leave Jack out of it.  She refuses and her lackey stops Emily from getting hold of Margaux.  She insists it was all Emily who started this and anything that happens to Jack is her fault.

Alexander (Tim Powell) tells Victoria the board denied her proposal, there was one person who voted against it.  The voting is anonymous but he's trying to find out who it is.  Victoria notices Emily's name on the list and assumes it was her.  Of course it wasn't, she wouldn't do anything like that to Daniel now, especially after he saved her life.  Stevie knows Margaux needs someone on the inside to go after Jack and Nolan looks for bank deposits, but finds nothing on Schaefer.  Jack thinks someone probably spiked his orange juice.  Nolan checks out the cameras at the bar and Emily notices it's the same man with Margaux at the courthouse.  He blocks the camera angle and moves his glass.  Emily finds where he lives and as she's at his apartment, he turns up.  They fight and she manages to pull a gun on him, demanding Jack's blood sample.  He gives it to her, but throws it in the air and runs away when she catches it.

Emily finds Ben and passes him the blood sample, the seal is still intact.  He tells him to find some way to get it back into the lab and that it's got to be found there.  Stevie can make sure it's found.  The social worker, Tony (Joshua Pence) asks where Carl is and he's with his grandfather, but has doubts when Jack replies they're probably at the beach.  Also asking if anyone in his family has problems with alcohol.  Stevie says she does, being a recovering alcoholic and Jack pleads for Carl not to lose his father too, after already losing his mother.  Tony then asks Nolan about Jack and he defends him saying Tony is trying to take children from their parents and asking where he was when his father kicked him out of the house, when he found him with another boy.  Nolan wishes his father loved him like Jack loves Carl.

Margaux's henchy says he needs anoher place to stay and that Emily found him so he had to give her the blood sample.  She tells him about Lyman and he thinks Emily killed him too.  Oh yeah, she just goes round killing everyone.  Margaux tells him she doesn't want his help anymore cos no one was supposed to get hurt, that's not who she is.  He argues she's a LaMarchel and he won't see that name dragged through the mud.  Emily is on the phone with Nolan as someone's tripped the security system, she walks inside and finds Victoria.  She walked in through the beach and confronts her about not approving the Daniel memorial at the hospital.  She says it wasn't her, she took the time out to vote for the proposal and she wouldn't jeopardize that after Daniel saved her life.  She tells her that Margaux to stop the vendetta against Jack.  She's still holding up the truce she has with Victoria.

Stevie asks Schaefer if the alcohol was on Jack's breath or could've been on his clothes from bartending.  He doesn't know.  He may have been anxious cos innocent people are when they're stopped by the police.  The lab found the blood sample and she requests it to be admitted in evidence, citing precedence, but the judge holds her in contempt.  No judge would do that so quickly, she did nothing wrong to be held in contempt.  Stupid judge as Homer Simpson would say!  David posts Stevie's bail and he felt he owed her after she tried to help him back then.  She is sorry she couldn't do more for him but was also going through her own issues.  She tells him he's got a chance to get to know Emily now and should take it, just as she has with Jack.  Also adding that Emily needs her father even now.

Stevie tells them she believes Knowles must be the inside man and Nolan finds a list of papers that have contributed to the Judge's fund.  All LaMarcel publications.  Victoria brings Margaux a baby crib and other toys and breaks the news to the proposal being voted against.   Margaux admits it was her who voted against it cos she didn't want to announce the pregnancy.  It would cast a shadow over the baby and she can't let that happen.  At the bar, Nolan brings over a bottle of wine to the judge saying she's got a secret admirer.  He asks if would like a glass. but she prefers to stick to her water. Later Ben pulls her up cos someone complained of her cutting a corner at the bar.  She tests positive when he gives her a breathalyser test, which shows .15, she was even more over the limit than Jack was.  The courthouse calls her and Emily tells her there was acetone in her water, which was found in model glue, as Jack's orange was also laced with this.  She wants her to drop the charges and let Jack's blood test be admitted, otherwise the LaMarchel bribes will be made public.

Stevie wants to take them to lunch to celebrate but Emily has something to do.  David tells her to move on from this and stop the fighting.  Emily doesn't think she can.  She didn't start this, but David says she should finish this.  She later speaks with Margaux outside the building and says she wants to put this behind them.  She gives Margaux her word and also her real birth certificate so Margaux can use it how she wants.  When she's standing hailing a cab, one comes out of nowhere and runs her over.  At the hospital Emily brings her bag and Victoria is already there.  Emily tells her she was calling a truce and the taxi came out of nowhere, it was an accident.  Victoria tells her to get out and Emily has her certificate in her hand.  Just as well she took it back.

Margaux says she lost the baby and Victoria will vow revenge on Emily again now as she tells her that Emily pushed her.  Oh yeah, where's all the camera's now?  See the revenge will never be over or the show would end, wonder if it will end after this season or not.  Thus their truce will now be over. Have a feeling Victoria only liked Margaux and was 'sucking' up to her cos she just wanted Daniel's baby for herself.

Nolan asks if Louise wants to go to his funeral.  She comes clean and tells him he doesn't have any secrets with her so she can't with him.  Telling him they fought after Lyman was in his black laptop and he went over the edge.  Also that it's too close to what happened to her father that's why she didn't tell Ben.  Nolan thinks it's better to keep quiet.  Tony meets Nolan at the bar and then notices his ring, he tells him it's a long story behind his marriage.  He was moved by Nolan's defence of Jack.  Emily is upset and tells David that s he tried to end it with Margaux.

Oh no I just thought, did David run Margaux over in the taxi, so Emily would be able to put it all behind her and in the past with Margaux gone.  It's my brain working overtime again, especially since I got these random notions of grandeur!  Ha.  But the foreshadowing was there.  David giving Carl the toy taxi.  But wouldn't you think that Margaux with her millions would have her own driver!?! Also Stevie did tell him that Emily still needs him, maybe he thought he couldn't kill Victoria, but he could help Emily with Margaux.   Anyway, just a thought, unless her henchman was behind it, cos that taxi had no intention of slowing down and he told her that she shouldn't stop the revenge with Emily for the sake of the family name.  This would be one way for it to continue, if Emily was blamed.

Wish Margaux had got it though, she's just so, uh annoying, to put it mildly.  Lying again now, it's no wonder she lost the baby, imagine the sort of mother she'd make, so much for wanting to clear Daniel's name.  This will achieve it?  Oh no Nolan, wrong time to have gotten married, meeting Tony now.  At least Jack got Carl back and he and Stevie can get to be a proper family now.

Sherlocked Event Convention 24-26th April 2015

The first Official Sherlocked Convention got underway at ExCeL, London and included a must of exhibits and props from Sherlock.  Here are some pics from the event.  With highlights of Benedict Cumberbatch's Talk to follow.

Having been to many conventions now, I have to say I didn't have as enjoyable time as I have had at the others, especially since this is one of the ones I was actually looking forward to.  That was a little bit disappointing.  Of course not everyone shares this view (it's only mine) but did speak to many other fans who felt the same way.  Ranging from disorganization, to not receiving items they had ordered for collection and generally not having much help when they needed it.

More from the interior set of Sherlock

The Costumes of Sherlock

The Woman: Irene Adler

The Wedding: The Sign of Three

The Christmas Special

Enjoy the pics, if you use them elsewhere, please acknowledge source!!

CSI 15.14 "Merchants of Menace" Review

                                                 
A serial killer's car is being auctioned off at a serial killer's convention, as we see macabre buyers attending the event.  The car is unveiled, belonging to serial killer, Lucas Reem, the 'Sin City Slasher' and there's a DB inside it.  It's Damon (Bobby Campo) who also runs the convention with the auctioneer/partner.  DB (Ted Danson) and Morgan (Elisabeth Harnois) attend the CS and mention how Lucas was executed for the killings recently.  Morgan recalls he was running around the city when she was 12, her parents were together and they were living in Vegas.  Her mother double checked all the doors and windows.  DB says it wasn't that different up North.  David (David Berman) finds he was killed around 10 hours ago and the COD are numerous stab wounds.  Damon's partner tells DB that he hasn't spoken to him since last night.

Greg (Eric Szmanda) arrives at the CS and stops two fans of Lucas's from taking selfies with Damon in the car.  He tells them there must be something better to do at Dead Owl Creek, as Mitch (Larry Mitchell) runs their licences for criminal records.  They come back clean and Greg says they should let them go if they promise not to come here anymore.  Well that was a little premature of him.  Don't know why they wrote this into Greg's storyline, cos thinking about the ending it was like he was partially to blame for what happened, but that was far from the case.  Oh and they had to mention Nate Haskill too and his face on a T-shirt!  Going back to S11 of the show and Ray's nemesis. Morgan found prints in the car belonging to Nora Waters (Mekenna Melvin)  who was the sister of one of Lucas's Vics.  As well as finding unusual blood spatter pattern on the car, as if something had brushed inside the blood.

Nora tells Sara(Jorga Fox) that her sister Rachel hid her in the closet and she watched her being killed by Lucas.  But that she was in love with Damon and didn't kill him.  She wrote him nasty e-mails about dealing in this kind of memorabilia and then met for coffee.  He explained he was studying such killers.  She sat in the car with him and it gave her a strange, emotional feeling.  DB questions Bruce Waters (Greg Evigan) her father. He asks if Db was here back then twenty years ago, but he wasn't and adds that Nora is not strong cos she makes such decision, such as dating Damon.

Doc (Robert David Hall) tells Nick (George Eads) Damon was stabbed eleven times with a large blade, similar to the one used by Lucas. As well as finding a bone fragment inside him.  Henry (Jon Wellner) runs DNA and finds it comes back to Lucas.  Morgan finds Damon was selling a knife made out of Lucas's bone, so he was killed by his memorabilia, as Nick points out.  They head back to the convention and find that someone had stolen the knife right off the table.  The coroner says that Lucas's DB was attached after the execution, so he must've had the bones removed after.  The mortician, Roy (Dominic Hoffman) was meant to cremate his DB and give closure to the Vic's families admits someone stole his DB from the table.  He didn't report it for this reason and also cos he offered his services for free and his business would've suffered.  He did however find a discarded bottle of bourbon there, which he kept cos he had every intention of reporting the theft.

The prints match a Todd Spanna (Rod Estes) and he wrote a book saying he brought down the serial killer, Lucas Reem.  He also deals in such memorabilia and has a website.  Nick tells Finn (Elisabeth Shue) he knows of him.  He called the police when he saw Lucas washing his bloody hands with a hose.  He says he didn't steal his DB and he didn't kill Damon.  There are followers of Lucas who hated him for turning him in and could've planted it.  Also he knows there's a 'blood market' out there of people who collect such memorabilia.  They sell the illegal items and he can give him user names. This comes back to Bruce.  Morgan also finds his prints on the table where the knife was taken. Bruce has gone missing and Sara speaks with Nora again.  She is adamant he didn't kill anyone and Damon was helping him get back the knives so that he could destroy them.  The deal was meant to happen tonight.

Nick and Sara arrive and find Bruce's DB.  Sara notices the Beretta doesn't have any bullets in it, so Nick surmizes he didn't have the $20,000 to pay for the knives and was killed.  Sara notice she has something in his mouth.  Back at the lab she finds it's apiece of suede from a jacket.  Morgan shows her the photos of the unusual pattern and thinks the jacket could've rubbed in the blood.  It has Lucas's DNA on it and resembles the same jacket he used to wear.  Nick asks Todd who bought his jacket, but he says that'd be worth plenty.  Todd tells him he knows where the blood market people hang out and gives them the address.  Nick goes undercover as a dealer and is let to Gunnar (Christopher Kerson).   He shows them what he has to offer and it's a miniature from the Miniature Killer case.  Well it had to be one of their past cases and this was a good one to go back to.  He's looking for the knives and Gunnar calls out Jacob (Rodney Eastman).  Nick also wants that jacket, but he refuses.  He says there's a vein in Nick's neck which is working overtime, so he thinks he's hiding something.  Nick tells him to move the knife away and then grabs it from him.  The police raid the place.

Jacob tells Finn Lucas's spirit has taken him over.  Hodges (Wallace Langham) texts Finn that the jacket is a cheap knock off.  Finn tells him he's going down for obstruction.  She couldn't say 'Waters' calling him 'Watters' everytime.  The knives were fake, except for one, which was made from the bones of serial Killer Gerald Palmer.  His DB was handled by Roy and he says he is innocent and has an alibi.  In exchange for his freedom he'll give them his client list.  Morgan finds nothing on the list, except Greg notices the address of Dead Owl Creek.  Putting the clues together leading back to Kyle (Richard Harmon) one of the boys from the beginning.

He's back at the convention, he wanted to keep all of Lucas's parts together and he's the one who thinks he's been taken over by Lucas.  He felt no remorse in taking their lives, to be just like him.  As he's lead away with Greg by his side and the rampant crowd snaps shots of him, he revels in the limelight.  DB tells Nora they caught the and he 'll be put away.  Nora says that's what her father used to say but it didn't help.  DB thinks he was trying to put everything behind him by doing this.

So another serial killer ep following go the heels of the Gig Harbour ep.  Funny they had Sara questioning Nora again, not a Vic per se, but the sister of one who's still suffering the nightmares from this.  Rather straightforward in terms of the suspect list being large as usual.  They seem to be doing that quite a bit this season.  It was sort of implied that if Greg hadn't let Kyle go, Bruce would've still been alive, then again they wouldn't have closed down that blood market.  Did get to mention Ed Gein, the territory of Criminal Minds.

The Mentalist 7.11 "Byzantium" Review

                                         
A couple sit in a car in the woods and the man, Donnie (Nick Fink) hears a noise outside before they are both shot.  He drives the car but it overturns and the killer shoots off the woman, Megan (Flavia Watson).  Cho (Tim Kang) and Lisbon (Robin Tunney) arrive at the CS and she hasn't heard from Patrick (Simon Baker).  She needs to see him but he hasn't returned her calls or answered them.  The park ranger, Jill (Toni Trucks) tells them Megan was dragged from the car and and Cho thinks the killer may have been trying to get her back up the hill, but couldn't.  9 mm casings were found there. Cho tells Lisbon they need Patrick on the case and she says she'll call him.  When she does get through, he's sitting outside his Airstream with tea and watching the Grand Canyon.  He doesn't pick up, infact he rejects her!

Cho tells them Donnie and Megan were missing a finger nail each.  Abbot (Rockmond Dunbar) says they do need Patrick and she handles it by sending the Highway Patrol to find him and take him in for questioning in Austin.  Patrick laughing cos he knows it must be Lisbon.  Yeah that officer did get a little carried away frisking him!!  Ooh he was all hands, ha!  Jill tells Cho about some poachers in the area, the Whitmore brothers.  They go to arrest them and Cho gets rough with one of them.  Their alibi checks out.  Abbott has a word to Cho about this and he says he got carried away in the moment, after getting caught off guard,  but it won't happen again.  As Abbott thinks he's still letting off steam over Vega.  He suggests he should go back and see his therapist at the Rangers.

Wylie (Joe Adler) answers the phone and a woman, Ree (Anastasia Phillips) walks in with her brother, Gabriel (Alex Saxon) telling him her brother has information about the murder.  He wasn't there but he saw it, saying he's a psychic.  He tells Wylie he feels the pain inside but doesn't show it on the outside, though he's crying out loud, obviously still lamenting Vega.  Wylie tells Lisbon and Abbott that they need to speak with him.  Abbot thinks the couple could've come across some drug scene.  Lisbon is sceptical of course after working with Patty for seven years, there's no such thing as a psychic.  Though it was kind of good to round this show off with a psychic storyline even if he was a fake one, cos that was kind of the crux of the show to an extent.  especially with Patrick having played that same con game.

Gabriel tells Abbot he's leaving and heading to a new place and he's got doubts.  Lisbon being very Patty here and tells him everyone has doubts.  Though it was funny he couldn't tell Lisbon anything about her.  Gabriel adds the man wanted to take them with him but couldn't; that he took a piece of them instead.  Six months ago he spoke to a man who had "much wrongness in him, it was like staring at the sun" and even if it's not the case, it's true about the fingertips.  Okay, quickly, I'm going to add that this reminds me of Red John and his acolytes, seriously it does.  The sun and wrongness in him.  Remember that scene with the Red Barn when Patrick was soaking in the sun and the smiley face was behind him.  I just can't help but think it's got something to do with that past.  Maybe I'm wrong, shall see next ep. Abbott tells Lisbon he's right about all of that but nothing was released to the press, or the vultures, as Cho refers to them.

Lisbon asks for a description and Gabriel tells him he was white and he's not good with faces, cos he only sees what's on the inside.  Lisbon suspects Gabriel of being the killer, as does Patrick when he turns up.  She has experience she tells Abbott.  In walks Patrick and they talk.  Lisbon would've sent him his cup but she didn't know where he was.  Oh Patty you heartbreaker, you always drive Lisbon to tears!  She hates he didn't answer her calls, first she thought he missed it, second time that he was busy and third time, she thought he was lying dead in a ditch somewhere and she hates that.  He tells her where he was and that she'd have liked to have seen the Grand Canyon too.  She makes him promise that he won't miss her calla again.  He tells her he needs the time to think and that's all he needs, just time, but she can't do anything for him.  Ooh, that must've been a bit of a low blow for her.

Abbott welcomes him back, but he replies that he's not back.  Abbott wants him to meet someone and takes him to Gabriel as he's leaving.  He tells him that Patrick isn't FBI and Patrick knows cos he saw it in his face or his clothes.  Gabriel tells him he's a fake and he replies there's something inside of Patrick that he can't let go.  Was that another Red John reference, or something about the job and not wanting to be here.  Patrick tells him it's just the human condition.  Gabriel posits the number 3 and it'll come to him in 3.  Which Patrick says is a common number.

Especially when he drives to a bar and has a beer or several and plays video games.  Noticing the barmaid's name has the initial AJ and so that must be her in the top three with her name appearing three times.  Of course we're now getting to see all those three turning up purposely.  She asks him to help with the beer case and then takes his keys so he doesn't drink and drive.  He misses another call from Lisbon.  Patrick also mentions she has three children.  Oh boy, suddenly that three's getting around.  Before he leaves he tells her that her name's Amber (Melora Walters).  He takes a walk, stares at the moon.  Next day he wakes up in the woods and doesn't know where he is.  Seeing a three legged dog running through the woods too, he finds him.

Cho finds Gabriel doesn't have a record, but he doesn't have an alibi for the night.  Wylie asks if he can come with Cho cos he doesn't want to sit here, behind a desk and they're short handed.  He has kept up with his shooting training.  They watch Gabriel outside his house and he talks with a neighbour.  Wylie finds Cho's book, Dostoevsky's The Idiots and asks him if it's good.  He also asks if Vega was good at this, as Cho tells him sometimes they do sit and wait.  He thinks he's ready to be out in the field and doesn't want to answer calls and Cho asks him if he wants to do this or if it's cos of Vega.  This is what he wants to do.  Cho speaks with the neighbour, who just asked Gabriel about a date she's got.  She doesn't believe in psychics, but does believe in Gabriel.

Wylie sees Gabriel fall over after he's waved to Wylie and he tells him he's got a pain in his side, but that she's not in pain.  Wylie asks if he's referring to Michelle Vega.  Then mentions white bones wrapped in red clay.  (Hmm, the colour red coming up.  Red Smiley face.  Sorry.  But Byzantium is a colour and it was the colour of the Byzantium empire and red was used to represent the colour of majesty in this empire.  SO?? does this possibly mean Red John wasn't Red John, the one Patrick killed, or...)  Patrick meanwhile comes across a lake and a cabin which is for sale.  Heck he's going to buy that!  Wylie finds an area near the CS which has red clay and says it can't hurt to check it out. They take a dog unit out there and soon the dog finds a body.  When they dig, they find five altogether, so they're dealing with a serial killer, Lisbon says.  Which Cho repeats back at the office. Abbot calls Patrick for help and he doesn't know where he is, but he's with the dog.

He says sorry to Lisbon for not answering the phone, that was his fault.  He says he's back and still working out things.  It's good to see her and she cautiously tells him the same.  Telling him about the unmarked graves and back at the office, she says they all had one fingernail missing.  Three were homeless and two were foreign exchange students.  Cho brings in Gabriel.  Patrick asks him about his seizure and he's fine now.  Then shows him the photos of the bodies in the grave.  He didn't want to see these things and Patrick understands cos hes used to be him.  Telling him he knows Gabriel spent a year of his childhood with illness and learned the piano.  Who else played the piano, well there was Red John's blind woman, Rosalind Harker (Alicia Witt).  He asks who told Patrick this and he replies no one.  Then he says he's lying and Gabriel didn't want these visions.  Patrick says he doesn't have visions and neither does Gabriel.  He knows the killer will kill again tonight, well he got that right.

Cho didn't find anything at Gabriel's house and Patrick says they need to keep him here.  Ree walks in with a lawyer,  who's got a writ of Habeus Corpus being signed by a judge and brought in.  The lawyer gives a statement and then tells the press about the serial killer, allowing Gabriel to reveal this to them.  Well that was his mistake.  Gabriel says the FBI want to frame him, that the killer is evil and can't stop the killing.  Cho and Wylie stake out his house again ad they see someone running.  It's the neighbour and she wants to get home quickly.  Cho enters and finds Ree shot. As Wylie is hit by someone.

Wylie doesn't recall who it was and he doesn't want to answer phones, as Cho tells him getting hurt is part of the job.  Patrick tells him to close his eyes, take a deep breath and listen to sounds.  He doesn't hear any, but he smells his uncle's fish shed.  Not the fish, but beer smells. He and Lisbon head to a nearby brewery, where they find Gabriel hanging from his arms, dead and his shoe missing. With the word fake etched in his arm.  Oh come on, he's got to have some Red John connection, or, or it'll have been seven years of we did really finish in a bum note with the RJ reveal!  It'd be nice to come round full circle.  Patty be Red John!! ha.  Okay I have resigned myself to the fact that he's not, but at least I can have some fun!

The other reason I thought of Red John was if you recall Patty taunted him on TV and the next minute his wife and daughter were killed by him.  Now Gabriel went on the TV to announce the serial killer and finding the five bodies and as soon as he did that, along with Ree,  Cho and Wylie find Ree dead and then Patrick finds Gabriel dead too.  Again with fake written all over his arm.  This again points me to Patrick and how he was a fake too and the serial killer obviously thought Gabriel not only may know who he is, but also that he spoke of him on TV.  I'm probably completely wrong, but I liked the idea of where I was going with this, thinking outside of the box.  It'd be nice if they did mention Red John again one last time.  As long as we also get a conclusion to the list and the names on it as well.  Giving us closure and peace of mind!  Ha.

Remember Byzantium: red.  I mean why not go for a red in the title, but no, it had to be this cos there hasn't been a red in the title this entire season, that's why and in season 6 when the Red John saga was over!  So they couldn't very well have it overtly stuck in our faces like that, with the use of 'red' again, maybe that'd be too much of a giveaway and so it had to be more subtle.

The Vampire Diaries 6.13 "The Day I Tried To Live" Review

                                           
Oh finally Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Elena (Nina Dobrev) remember Bonnie (Kat Graham) and her birthday, but it was still very self-indulgent. A bit of an afterthought, weeks later they now realize they need to find her and help her back, not so much find.  Though you never can tell.  So they get Kai (Chris Wood) to take them to the other side a la Ghost, they'll be Patrick Swayze and when Kai does this, they finds that she can't see them.  But she's watching the video that she and Damon made and he recalls the oldest booze bottle in the house and she's drinking from it.  They made a pact to finish it as a last resort and at the end of that, to drink it all and themselves to death.  Once again, the phrase the best laid plans of mice and and men comes to mind, only in this case, it's with the addition of vampires.  By now we know they always backfire.  Oh and Kai helping them wasn't out of the goodness of his own heart, sure there's some Luke floating around in him and he says that to Liv (Penelope Mitchell) after she fools Tyler (Michael Trevino) knocks him out and them comes to kill him, whilst he's got Jeremy (Steven r McQueen) under a spell, as he's trying to reach out to Bonnie of course.

He gets the Road Atlas and Kai is able to get him to touch it long enough, but then it slips through his fingers.  All cos of Liv, thanks a lot, you interfering witch!! ha.  Okay some of you my want to rhyme words here.  Let's see what rhymes with witch.  Jeremy wakes up and tries to stop her from killing Kai.  Cutlery fight!  Elena also finds that she and Damon are stuck in the room upstairs cos Kai is wounded.  Jeremy takes him into the kitchen and makes him take him back to Bonnie.  Where he finds Bonnie drinking and finally giving up.  She heads to the garage to gas herself to death, cos there aren't any other ways.  Mentioning she hopes Damon knows how to work that video gadget and how she's giving up cos she can't stand being alone.  Jeremy tries to stop her and hits the garage door button over and over and she resigns to finally changing her mind and not wanting to die.  She gets up  after he finally hits the button and the door opens.  All she sees is the sun and just for a moment you wish her to see Jeremy there, but of course that'd be too easy.

Funny part, or not, when Kai tries to burn Liv, but can't do it, then questions himself and then wills himself to kill her.  Again is this part of Luke talking and was absorbed into him in the merge.  Kai as said wouldn't just turn good overnight and where was Jo in all of this.  Absurd to think Liv didn't want to through with the merge and then she thinks she can kill Kai, when she was the one who was the weaker of the two, where was she two eps ago?  Bonnie comes back into the house, drinking water and finds the atlas with Nova Scotia marked on it and calling Damon a genius.  Yeah maybe in another life.  Oh the other funny scene when Damon knocks a hole in the upstairs chimney and throws down the expensive bottle of booze, sending Liv flying back and unconscious.  Oops another bottle of booze gone!   So Bonnie drives off to NS.

Caroline (Candace Accola) digs for Cuddles with Stefan (Paul Wesley) standing around for moral support, ha, as he watches her and then teases her at the same time.  All in an effort to let her anger go and to let it out.  Even asking if he sees an M&M there.  She finally has enough and conks him with the shovel and then drinks.  Stefan notices the teddy's ear sticking out, before Caroline rips his head off, the bear's that is.  Finally apologizing to him and they hug, but many's out there would've wanted them to share a passionate kiss I'm sure.

Enzo (Michael Malarkey) meanwhile compels Matt (Zach Roerig) to sweet talk Sarah Salvatore (Tristin Mays) and he messes up with the camera pick up line.  He then compels him to have another go by taking away his jacket, so Matt tells her his friend drove away and left him, with his jacket and phone in the car.  Enzo saying he was testing him and he rates her as a 9 in terms of purity.  By the time he's finished he wants her to see how bad she can be and get her to a one.  But she'll do it by herself and with some goading from him.  Not to mention the fact that he then wants her to beg him to turn her into a vampire.  SO during all this vendetta against Stefan going on, did he stop to think about what Damon would say.  Someone should just tell him about Sarah anyway.

So Elena gets it on again with Damon after admitting that she was human then and so had morals (yeah right) and now she's a vampire she doesn't care about all that and wants Damon anyway.  Cue bed falling moment.  Had a feeling Elena only changed her mind cos Damon reminded her she wanted Stefan, went over the bridge and then when she turned into a vampire, Damon was back in the picture again.  Really it appears she wasn't thinking for herself, but just decided she wants him cos of this and that she's a vampire now.  Tyler's brought Liv back to her dorm room and tells her she betrayed him and lied to him.  That after everything she still went to get herself killed by Kai and he's over her.  He never wants to see her again.  Let's see how long that lasts.

It was Bonnie's birthday and yet there wasn't much of Bonnie in this ep.  Just a lot of others thinking about themselves again and Elena of course!  She tells Jeremy he should move on from Bonnie cos that's what she wants him to do and he should apply for Art School.  Cue comment by Damon that he's not very good at art! What right has Elena to tell him to move on, he can wallow as long as he wants, especially since once again she's giving out stupid sisterly advice.  It's his life and who said Bonnie would want him to move on anyway, especially since he's here and  there's every chance she will be back.

That entire Enzo storyline is a little like Katherine isn't it.  I thought so, not exactly identical, but similar.  The entire turning into vampire thing and how she went after Stefan and Damon way back then.

Revenge 4.16 "Retaliation" Review

                                               
Ben (Brian Hallisay)  hands over Emily's 'Amanda Clarke's' birth certificate to Margaux (Karine Vanasse) after she threatens to go after his ex-wife.  She shows him footage of her in a diner.  Later Emily (Emily VanCamp) and Nolan (Gabriel Mann) have the same footage and Emily tells him they have to get to her before Margaux realizes she's been played and the certificate is a forgery.  Emily sees David (James Tupper) on the yacht and talks to him about Natalie (Gina Torres) and how he's seeing her, but he didn't tell her.  Then sees Jack (Nick Wechsler) helping him out.

Ben decides he wants to go it alone, but Emily stops him in the middle of the road and tells him she's coming too.  At the diner, April (Sarah Lancaster) arrives but she doesn't want his help.  She'd rather stick it out here, as she explains that she had to go into witness protection cos of him.  He went to raid the place where Wes Perkins (Trenton Rostedt) had his stash, but it was empty, so he knew she gave him up.  He's coming after her now since Margaux told him where she is after she found out the certificate was fake and Emily tells her that's her fault.  When he gets to the diner, he finds Emily in her place and she hits him, before Ben cuffs him.  It's his third strike and he's going down for life. April thanks them and says she's sorry for acting out cos she's stubborn too, as Emily says she's the same.  April saying he has a type he goes for then.

When Emily and Ben return they pass Jack on the road being stopped by the police.  He's being arrested for drunk driving, but he stresses he's not been drinking and he's got Carl with him too.  They don't want to hear it as they take him away.  Another one Margaux's gonna have to answer for as far as Emily's concerned.

Lyman (Sebastion Pigott) loses the case for Victoria (Madeleine Stowe) and she fires him.  He's not getting a penny so he goes and begs Louise (Elena Satin) for forgiveness, saying he's done her wrong, blah, blah, but they were close when they were little and he's got nowhere to go.  So she invites him to stay with her and Nolan, without asking him of course.  Nolan's angry she didn't ask and also that he coud've stayed on her yacht, unless he gets as sick of the sea as much as he is of Lyman.  We then see him striking a deal with Margaux who's paying him for cosying up to Louise so she can get the goods from Nolan's hard drive on Emily and her friends.  When he returns to retrieve the information, Louise catches him and realizes that's why he wanted to move in.  She takes the flash drive and they wrestle by the pool before he falls to his death on the rocks below.  Dangerous place to have a pool, Nolan.  She's also mad at Nolan for not respecting her and for ignoring her family.  Well he was right to wasn't he.  Also how he keeps taking off his wedding ring and not putting it back on, for which she doesn't berate him.  She tries to tell him she's done something bad, but doesn't get chance saying Lyman's passed out in the guest room.

Natalie throws the Fourth of July party and she flaunts the fact she's with David in front of her.  As well as having all the money which should've been Victoria's.  David seems to be falling for her charms and lies, even after Victoria warns him she's using him cos she's bought a place in Malibu and doesn't intend to hang around.   She's not jealous either.  Natalie latter trips in her heels and asks for some aspirin from her bag and inside David finds a watch.

At the party, she talks to the reporter making David out as having emotional problems and mood swings, which Victoria overhears.  Yes Victoria in her red Special K dress!  Natalie gets David alone in the room with her and rips the sleeve of her dress, shouting for him to stay away.  He shows her Conrad's watch he found in her bag, with the engraving, Bunny and she says Lydia was a whore.  She couldn't get Conrad so she went after his father and his money, which rightly belonged to Victoria. She drugged him until he signed over the money.  Victoria tapes this on her phone and makes her sign the money over or go to prison.  That seemed too easy.  David thanks Victoria for saving his name and she adds it's good that he didn't kill her then.

Did you like that line at the end about first loves and how Margaux went after April, Ben's first love, their weakness and he asks Emily who her first love is and she replies, Jack.  They made it appear he's her first love which is why Ben had to second guess her by asking her that she said Jack.  But she meant Jack was being arrested.  Though of course who's she kidding, Jack is her first love, it's obvious when they were little and it's obvious now.  Think she was feeling guilty about everything they've been through and what she's been through and can't give it up, so she doesn't want to take him down with her.  Though it's not surprising there are dirty cops everywhere, it's just surprising they crawled out of the woodwork now, right after Jack is no longer part of the force.  But he's better out of it.

What was shocking was Lyman being able to get into Nolan's files (ha!) and copy all the data from them, was it really that easy.  As well as finding out he's got the secret laptop hidden away to begin with.  Not even Margaux could've known that.  So that's all Natalie could come up with, no wonder she didn't get far as Conrad's mistress and Victoria takes all the money for Daniel's foundation.

CSI 15.13 "The Greater Good" Review

                                                 
A woman is held captive by Jared, the Gig Harbour Killer, and he tells her to run cos he can try to hit her with a crowbar as long as he likes.  It's Maya (Brooke Nevin) and she runs towards the door and sees Paul Winthrop (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) behind it, then wakes up.  She was having a nightmare about him and she speaks with DB (Ted Danson) over the phone.  She's going back to Seattle and is leaving tonight.  A police patrol watches her.  He says he'll drive her but she reminds him he's got that meeting with Ecklie.  So he'll send Crawford (Alimi Ballard) instead.  Daniel (Mark Valley) sits outside and listens to her conversation.  Then makes a call saying it's happening tonight.  

Paul visits Jared (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) as he's been exonerated of all charges and so they can work together, Jared will get what he always wanted.  Of course it's obvious that's going to be Maya.  Paul is talking on the TV and vows to make everyone pay in lawsuits, DB tells Sara (Jorga Fox) and Finn (Elisabeth Shue) he's expecting to be served very soon.  Then Finn realizes that Maya being here was bait and Sara thought she was just visiting.  DB reluctantly tells them she agreed to do it and it was "for the greater good."  Sara also mentions that Hodges (Wallace Langham) is working on the strings and may have a breakthrough, calling it "music to his ears."  Crawford mentions picking up Maya at seven and also that she was always under protective custody.

Morgan (Elisabeth Harnois) hears a violin being murdered (no pun) and Hodges is playing one.  He is onto replicating how the Gig Harbour Killer made the strings and has used cat gut.  Explaining cat gut isn't really cat gut but from sheep or goat.  She's happy he hasn't used real human tissue but she hasn't seen Henry around.  (No that's cos he probably would've been off with Sara if she hadn't come in for her two obligatory scenes this ep.  Ha)  He found a match to a woman who made strings and that's Rebecca Lowell, the same woman who was shot by Finn, when she came after Greg.  Morgan takes Hodges with her to her house and they smell a rotting corpse.  Morgan clears the house and finds a DB on the bed but they don't know who she is.  Hodges looks at the clippings on the wall and comments on how the Gig Killer likes to read about himself.  Morgan also notices some ants and looks inside the freezer, finding body parts.

The officers watching Maya get a call about an officer down and take the call, requesting back-up. Obviously that was a diversion and this gives Daniel the chance to move in and take Maya to the airport, telling her he knows DB.  It'd be easier for her if she saw a friendly face.  She goes off with him and you know this was planned, cos she wouldn't just get into the car like that.  David (David Berman) tells Morgan there's no ID on the DB, but the body parts match the missing Vics, Emily and Pamela.  Morgan tells Finn they found Daniel's prints all over the house and so he was Paul's partner. Maya realizes how DB would talk about Fnn all the time, but didn't mention him and that he drives past the exit for the airport.

DB tells Ecklie his house is a CS and that the units are following Maya, she's wearing a wire and she agreed to do this.  Nick (George Eads) and Greg (Eric Szmanda) also follow.  She wanted to do this to end the nightmare and put it behind her.  Finn doesn't think that Daniel is behind this and heads to Rebecca's house for herself.  Here she stumbles across Hodges in the dark, cos Morgan left him to collect evidence, should she have done that without back-up present.  Anyone could've come back there.  He tells her he works in the dark, cos his mentor, Grissom, told him to think like the killer. She prefers worklights.  He comments on the creaky floorboards and she notices scuff marks from a table that Hodges didn't move.

Under the board she finds a chest full of money and a flashdrive.  Also how Daniel's prints weren't found on the clippings, or the table.  Hodges thinks he lounged around and then got into serial killer mode and wore gloves.  Morgan works on the body parts and the larvae she found and David tells her that the DB was Rebecca's sister.  She finds blowfly larvae and beetle eggs which are enemies so they wouldn't be in the same place at the same time.  She suspects the parts were frozen several times over and moved around, so she'll try to find the killer's habitat based on the larvae.  Nick and Greg follow Daniel as he heads into an ally and makes a call.  Maya finds the time to speak with her father and tells him she loves him.  He then drives away and leads them to a warehouse, which apparently only has one exit and entrance.

He plays classical music and tells her to listen.  Also mentioning that the girl playing the violin was beautiful and he didn't deserve something so beautiful.  DB also finds that Paul and his brother landed here four hours ago, so they must be meeting Daniel.  DB realizes Maya isn't saying anything and he gets them to go in.  When they arrive there's just a recording with Daniel talking.  Maya's wire is left on the front seat.  Outside Nick tells Greg to look around for clues and they find her wedding ring on the ground, as well as some chipped red paint from the car, showing they changed cars.  The paint will help ID the make and model of the car.  Finn finds Rebecca ran the escort service and has names of clients on the flashdrie, including judges, police and others.  She also finds Daniel's name there too and finds he was a dirty cop.  Paul's name is also on the list.


Finn sees DB in agony and Crawford tells her he's beating himself up over it too.  Then mentions what Daniel said about the girl.  Maya talks to Daniel in the car and he says he respects her father and she's just like him.  She's resilient and says she won't run, but won't make it easy either.  Morgan tells DB they'll find Maya just like they found her and her father never gave up on her.  She found that the larvae may be infesting the area and she shes contacted the Land Management Bureau to ask if there have been any beetle infestations it he Vegas area.  They return a message specifying an area, and that's where they think Daniel could be heading.  They have units and eyes in the sky searching the area and find the abandoned car.

Finn processes the violin and gets some results.  She tells DB that Daniel has a daughter and that Rebecca's sister, Wendy was her mother.  She should've realized the violin was small, the size for a child.  So Daniel took Maya to exchange her for his daughter, Amy.  Daniel tells her to get out of the car and she tells him he's not a killer or someone who preys on woman.  Inside Paul and Jared show up and Jared is ecstatic he'll get what he always wanted now.  Paul tells Daniel to throw down his gun, but he wants to see Amy first. She hugs him and then he puts the gun down.  But Paul should've known that even if he is a dirty cop, Daniel would still have a throw away, so he shoots him, then strangles Jared with the crowbar.  Then again, Daniel should've known that Paul would be wearing a flak jacket!  He shoots Daniel from behind and as he's about to finish him off, Maya attacks him with the crowbar.

She runs to get help and the police arrive.  Inside Nick and Greg find that Jared's dead, but Paul's gone.  As Nick calls for an ambulance.  DB arrives and hugs Maya, as Crawford tells Amy it's going to be okay.  Finn tells Daniel he shoud've come to her and he won't be able to see Amy, but he wants her kept out of the system and wants to make sure her grandmother in Texas looks after her.   Sara tells DB that Nick and Greg followed a blood trail to a sewer and then to some wash, he's gotten away, but she also says DB's in the drivng seat cos he can plaster his face everywhere.  DB also adds that like an animal he's dangerous when cornered.

The end was a bit formulaic and it was obvious that Daniel wouldn't have turned out to be a killer, especially since he was involved with Finn, and we have to always trust her instincts, don't we.  I mean, I don't, but you have to for the purposes of the show.  Also it was Finn who still believed in him and worked out he wasn't in it for the glory, money or the notoriety, but to get back his daughter, to whom he wasn't such a crash hot father. Guessing they also didn't want Mark Valley to play a killer in this either.

So Sara turns up at the end to give her usual piece of advice she does to everyone this season, Greg, Morgan and now DB, but he's adamant that Paul will go on the rampage still and this still doesn't mean Maya is out of the woods yet.  Thinking she'll still be having her nightmares.  But we got to see that she's not that different from DB and that he's taught her his CSI skills and has the ability to stay calm under pressure and adversity.  Wonder how Nick would've fared with the insect larvae and eggs, but then guess they made this easier for Morgan to work out since he wasn't around in the lab.  Was good to see Hodges get out of the lab and yes, Morgan was right, Henry wasn't around.  Not just a throw away comment, but he really wasn't in the ep!  Mind you, Doc wasn't around either.  Oh well, until the next appearance of Paul.

The Vampire Diaries 6.12 "Prayer for the Dying" Review

                                           
Oh after some more self indulgence with Elena (Nina Dobrev) yet again and wanting a date with Damon (Ian Somerhalder) but boo hoo, he already knows what'll happen.  She should consider herself lucky she was getting a date with him to begin with.  But having said that, I have to say Damon puts his foot in it once again!Seriously, he thinks it's okay to interfere in something that doesn't concern him again and why, cos he thinks he's helping Alaric by saving Jo (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe).  Where was Alaric anyway, shouldn't he have at least been here at this time for Jo.  Then there's Caroline (Candace Accola) and they find out the man she gave her blood to, died and came back as a vampire, making it worse for him, cos he can't die now and he can't live like a vampire either.  never mind, Damon to the rescue, he just swoops in and saves the day by taking his heart and killing him, there problem solved.  Stefan's (Paul Wesley) face said it all really.  Sometimes you think Caroline and Damon are cut from the same cloth.  Always do things without thinking and selfishly, not to help others but what they think they should be doing for themselves.

Think I can say the same for Tyler (Michael Trevino) as well when he wants Liv (Penelope Mitchell) to, er live, but he thinks it's better if Jo and Kai (Chris Wood) are the ones to merge.  I mean he was the one who gave Damon the plan to to let Kai loose, suck up the magic from the sheriff's (Marguerite MacIntyre) body so that she goes back to being terminal, but in a peaceful sort of way and then thinks it's better if Liv and Luke's (Chris Brochu) father, Joshua (Christopher Cousins) makes them merge together, thus Jo won't have to.  Pray then tell what was he going to do with  Kai after the fact, of the mergence.  Sometimes this show, ugh, why do I even watch it still.

Anyway as said, Damon gets the idea from Tyler who was releasing Kai from his comatose, on ice stage and he thinks it's better if he  merges, hello, when or how was Damon going to keep control of the psychopathic Kai, or did he want more vessels in head burst.  Cos no one can control Kai, even their own father runs away after he finds out that Luke has merged with Kai, cos he knows Kai is stronger than him.  SO basically it was suicide for Luke and he knew that Kai would be the victor, but selflessly he wanted to save both his sisters, Liv and Jo.  But I got to ask what it would've been like if Luke and Liv had merged.  There should've been a different outcome to this, instead of letting the weaker siblings live.  Just cos Luke was a loner and didn't have anyone on his side, or was involved, it was a case of he's just expendable.

What else happened, oh, the sheriff promises Caroline she'll fight as hard as possible to be here as long as possible for her and even though there was that moment when she flatlined and was packing her bags, wanting to say her final farewells to Caroline, then finding her all vamp faced and bloody, which made her return to the living.  Caroline didn't do her any favours by going AWOL when she needed her the most.  With Stefan having to convince her to come back since he did the same thing when his mother was ill, went to find her favourite flowers or her favourite tea, so he wouldn't have to be with her.  The sheriff also makes him promise he'll look after Caroline cos she'll need him.  Well that's all he needed.

There Jo and Liv were in despair and what do Elena and Damon do, kiss like there was no vampire tomorrow!  Yeah, cos it's all about you.  I have nothing else to say for this ep, no seriously, I don't. Was that disappointed in it and it wasn't like watching anything new and it's not like it hasn't been all done before.  Just wish Enzo was around to liven things up, cos this lot are so full of themselves, always interfering in things that go wrong and then no one's even thought about Bonnie for weeks now.